And so Sherlock is over for another two years (or one year?) It's sad, yes, but also a relief. Living with this level of excitement is not possible for long periods of time. I'm exhausted.

Right then. Let's talk about the final episode. Click read more for spoilers. (Oh so many spoilers.)

Overall, I found that this episode wasn't quite as good as the last one. But then, the last episode was so character-driven and funny and adorable that I don't think any future episode will match up to it in my eyes. His Last Vow was better than The Empty Hearse, though; don't worry about that. And I've heard that the people who hated The Sign of Three actually enjoyed His Last Vow quite a bit, so things are looking up.

Before I start on about the plot, can I just take a moment to mention how much I missed Paul McGuigan's directing this series? This episode wasn't bad in that sense, don't get me wrong, but McGuigan just seems to give Sherlock that extra sparkle that's missing here. Maybe he'll come back for the next series? (Ok and Toby Haynes was superb in the last series too - and I've just seen that he's the director for the upcoming Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell TV adaptation. Aaa! Excuse me while I go hyperventilate.)

Right. Plot. So, this episode was fun, but it was also filled with millions of plot twists. Plot twists are exciting, and they're also draining. Some of the fun is lost, I find, when you're too busy struggling to keep your head above the water. Hm. More thoughts below.

Contents:
1. Creepy creep creep
2. Talking about visceral
3. WTF moment #1
4. WTF moment #2
5. WTF moment #3
6. Oh but we can't forget about John
7. WTF moment #4
8. And then the fun parts
9. Surprise! WTF moment #5

***

1. Creepy creep creep

Can we all agree that Lars Mikkelsen's excellent turn as Charles Augustus Magnussen is the best part of the whole episode? Can we? I was a fan of Lars Mikkelsen when I first saw him in The Killing and I'm still a fan now. (Btw, anyone else think there was a bit of a The Killing vibe in this episode? I almost expected to see Sherlock don some chunky knitwear at one point.)

Anyway, back to Magnussen. What a great villain. My thoughts when watching this episode went something like: "Oh, this Magnussen is kinda sexy. His accent is kinda sexy. He's just generally kinda se... CREEPY MASSIVELY CREEPY OH GOD SO CREEPY DID HE JUST LICK HER FACE."

There was something disgustingly visceral about him, and yet he was also very particular at the same time. I mean, yes he will wee in your fireplace, but at least he's got some antibacterial wipes handy!

2. Talking about visceral

There really seemed to be a visceral streak running through this episode. Not only do we get Charles Augustus Magnussen being generally creepy ("The whole world is wet to my touch." Eurgh.) there's also the drugs and the anger and the violence. Really a lot of violence. Even Molly slaps Sherlock a couple of times! In terms of tone, this episode is miles apart from the last one. (Not necessarily in a bad way, though; just in a different way.)

And I'll admit it: Sherlock on drugs was actually kinda hot. By rights it shouldn't be, but there you go.

Much as it loomed large, though, it wasn't the violence that dominated the episode. What dominated were the plot twists. Oh the plot twists! (I was shouting shocked expletives at the TV.)

3. WTF moment #1

Can I quote from my review of The Sign of Three?

Janine must be Mary's good friend. Can she come back at some point? Please? Say my name again, Sherlock! Say it! Say it!

I had thought it was perhaps wishful thinking that Janine would come back, especially when I wondered if they might ever update that part where Sherlock gets engaged for a case and that she would be the other party.

But OMG they did it! Screaming. I was screaming. The rest of the episode passed by in a blur. Did anything else happen in it? I don't remember. (Brb printing out all of the subtitled screencaps and sticking them on my wall. Also, I'm not too certain on the legal side of things but I'm pretty sure that I'm engaged to Benedict Cumberbatch now. Thanks. You can pass your congratulations on to me. I'm accepting cards and monetary gifts.)

I'm a little sad about the outcome, even if it had to happen, purely because it seemed sad to ruin the kind of fun flirty friendship they had going in The Sign of Three.

At the same time, though, I'm glad about the outcome because. Look. I'm pretty sure that what I was feeling was the pure confusion of "A lady? Sherlock Holmes and a lady? A lady?" just like John was feeling. At no point was I feeling jealous (just like John was feeling). At no point at all.

Whatever it was, I seriously found it hard to pay attention to the rest of the plot until it was confirmed that they hadn't slept with each other. Phew. IT'S JUST CONFUSION AND NOT JEALOUSY SHUT UP.

4. WTF moment #2

This was the part I found it hard to concentrate on, which left me with lots of catching up to do for the rest of the episode. Here we have the big reveal that Mary is actually a super secret spy assassin.

And I don't know what to make of it.

I really liked the parallel and then the twist to the canon Sherlock Holmes story here. But Mary!

Oh, I think I'm actually grieving. The thing is: I really loved Mary. She was such a fun and funny, normal kind of person, and now we find that she's not who we thought she was at all. Perhaps she is still fun as a spy (it wasn't like this episode had a plot that would showcase that side of her) but it will still take a long while before I reconcile myself to all the new information.

Perhaps this was why I found it hard to truly love this episode. I've had the rug pulled out from underneath me and I'm still in free-fall, waiting to land.

5. WTF moment #3

And then Mary shot Sherlock. Jesus Christ. That was a massive shock.

Personally, I didn't really like this whole sequence. Not because I was shocked or sad, but more because the whole part about "Sherlock being able to brainy himself out of death" was kind of overdone and silly IMO. Please stop showing him dramatically climbing up those stairs. I get it. God.

(But at least we get bonus shirtless hospital Sherlock afterwards? Good.)

6. Oh but we can't forget about John

The other main theme that seemed to be running through this episode was that: Jesus, John's not normal, is he? Not by a long shot is he the sane one.

I liked that they touched on John's crazy. I've heard people talking about it very eloquently before but this is the first time I've seen it addressed on the show.

(We'll ignore the slightly dodgy "Your partner is a bad person and it's all your fault because you chose them" part. I mean, that's all well and good on TV; I just hope no-one takes it to heart in real life. Other people's bad deeds are not your fault ok.)

Oh and Martin Freeman was very good here. His anger was genuinely believable and really quite scary.

7. WTF moment #4

What a dark and shocking conclusion! Sherlock actually murdered the bad guy! There was something quite thrilling in the whole thing. You're reminded of A Study in Pink all those years ago where John was warned that Sherlock was going to kill someone one day.

So. Sherlock killed a guy for John. Sounds kinda dramatic until you realise that John did the same thing for Sherlock when he had only known him for half a day. Once again a reminder that John is really really not the sane one.

And. Hear me out. I've been wondering what Sherlock's childhood pet, Redbeard, has to do with all of this. The memory of him is both comforting and unsettling to Sherlock at the same time. Redbeard is even listed by Magnussen as one of Sherlock's pressure points. I doubt that a simple "child had pet then pet died" story would have such power.

It was the clip at the end that got me thinking the most. Sherlock has just killed Magnussen and he's on his knees before the authorities, and suddenly we're shown young Sherlock crying. That suggests to me that there's a parallel between what has just happened and what happened to Sherlock when he was younger.

We know that Redbeard was put down. What we don't know is why. It's just a theory, of course, but I can't help think that Redbeard's death was Sherlock's fault somehow. Perhaps an experiment that left the dog so ill that it had to be euthanised? Sherlock must have received his sociopathy diagnosis from somewhere, right?

8. And then the fun parts

Can we just stop for a moment and consider the fact that Sherlock has a "porn preference" and that it is classed as "normal". Some characters have a porn preference listed as "none". Not so for Sherlock. Does your brain hurt too?

The other revelation about Sherlock is that his first name is actually William! I loved that part. It's a great way of updating the character. How on earth does someone nowadays get a crazy Victorian name like Sherlock? Answer: it's a middle name! (He looks like a William too.)

I love to imagine that Sherlock was called William as a young child (probably Billy, actually, going by how much Sherlock sneers when he refers to Bill Wiggins as Billy). In my version of things, Sherlock gets to some age (8-10 maybe?) when he decides that being normal is not for him. He chooses from then on to go by his (ridiculous) middle name in order to emphasise just how different he is from other people. His parents and Mycroft eventually go along with it. (Please don't ask me if Mycroft has a different first name too. Everything about Mycroft is too terrifying to delve into deeply.)

Speaking of parents, the Christmas dinner scene was great. Sherlock and Mycroft's parents are super, especially when they tell Sherlock and Mycroft off for smoking.

Oh man. And there's the other plot twist revelation that Sherlock and Mycroft had a third brother. It was such an offhand remark that I don't even know where to start! Exciting, but did I mention how there were too many plot twists in this episode?

9. Surprise! WTF moment #5

And just in case you thought you were sick of plot twists, there's the revelation that Moriarty is back!

I'm glad, in a way. I like that it brought Sherlock back from exile. The thought of going through another two years of waiting with Sherlock "maybe" dead would have been a) boringly repetitive and b) far too sad for me to deal with.

As for Moriarty, I don't think he's really back. I mean, I love Moriarty and Andrew Scott is great but Moriarty did blow his brains out pretty convincingly at the end of the last series. My theory is. And bear with me here. My theory is that this is someone masquerading as Moriarty rather than Moriarty himself.

Who, you ask? I like to think it's Molly's ex-fiancé. Look at the facts:
a) He seems like quite a fan of the whole crime/deduction deal if his "meat dagger" comment was anything to go by. (Bwahaha meat dagger.)
b) His relationship with Molly seems to have broken down quite suddenly, leaving him conspicuously absent in this episode.
c) Molly did say she had a type.

(And we'll just wait here for Molly to get over her type and then get together with Lestrade, right?)

***

So, that's my theory for the next series, whenever it is: Moriarty isn't back. They're just trolling us with him.

As for this series? Ups and downs. First episode = dire. Second episode = OMG I loved it. Third episode = ok but too many plot twists to be super enjoyable.

But, well. Sherlock is still a great show. To be honest, a bad Sherlock episode is still very passable against the majority of shows out there. I am a fan and my DVD is already on pre-order :D

If we're taking requests for the next series, though, I'd like no rubbish episodes and more characters called Janine ok.